French Silent Letters and Pronunciation

One of the difficulties with French pronunciation is that it is not a phonetic language. A phonetic language (e.g., Spanish, Arabic) is one in which each letter has a single corresponding sound; in other words, spelling matches pronunciation. Other languages, like French and English, are not phonetic: they have letters that can be pronounced in different ways or sometimes not at all. 

There are three categories of silent letters in French.

• E muet / Elision
• H muet and aspiré
• Final consonants

This lesson will focus on final consonants; follow the links to the right for detailed explanations of the silent letters E and H.

The basic rule of French pronunciation is that the final consonant is not pronounced, but there are many exceptions, which are what this lesson is about.*

The letters B, C, F, K, L, Q, and R are usually pronounced at the end of a word. Tip: Since B, K, and Q are rare as final consonants, some people find it helpful to use the word CaReFuL to remember the most common of the usually pronounced final consonants.

Usually pronounced		Some exceptions*
B	le Maghreb un snob un club	le plomb
C	un truc un flic avec	un estomac, un tabac, le porc
		nasal vowel + c: un banc, blanc
F	actif un chef un oeuf	un nerf, une clef, oeufs
K	un anorak un look le bifteck
L	il avril un hôtel un bol	gentil, outil
		vowel + -il: à l'appareil, un oeil

Q	le coq cinq
R	un four hiver abrutir		{	boulanger, boucher
		-er		-er infinitives: abonner, causer
				-ier suffix: premier, cahier

The other French consonants are usually silent at the end of a word, with some exceptions. Tip: many exceptions are proper names or words borrowed from other languages.

Usually silent		Some exceptions*
D	froid chaud d'accord	sud
		Proper names: David, Alfred
G	le sang long	le grog
M, N	The letters M and N are usually silent, but remember that they cause the vowel preceding them to be nasal.
	un balcon parfum	Latin words: amen, forum
P	un drap beaucoup un champ	un slip, un cap
S	exprès trois vous bas	un fils, un autobus, le tennis
T	et abricot salut vingt	brut, ouest, huit
		-ct ending: direct, strict
		-pt ending: concept, sept
X	deux un prix un époux	six, index, Aix
Z	chez le riz	le gaz

Note: The words plus and tout have their own pronunciation rules.